Kansas City Royals rookie catcher MJ Melendez is starting in right field and is batting fifth on Tuesday against Cleveland Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill. It will be the second straight game that Melendez has started in right field after previously starting five games behind the plate when Salvador Perez (thumb) was on the injured list. The 23-year-old has gone 20-for-77 (.260) with four home runs and nine RBI in his first 23 major league games, and if he continues to hit, the Royals will find a place for him in their lineups. Melendez is the team's top prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and those in deep mixed and AL-only leagues should be looking to add him off the waiver wire if he's available.

Kansas City Royals catcher MJ Melendez is in the starting lineup for Tuesday's contest against the St. Louis Cardinals and right-hander Dakota Hudson. Melendez is batting seventh and starting at designated hitter. It'll be his Major League debut. The 23-year-old hit .412 with a .474 on-base percentage and a home run in 19 plate appearances during Spring Training action. In 91 plate appearances with Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate, he's hit .167 with a .286 on-base percentage, a pair of home runs, and three stolen bases. Melendez is worth a look as a streaming option in deeper leagues in his first Major League game. He's certainly a player to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

The Kansas City Royals will be calling up catching prospect MJ Melendez from Triple-A on Monday. Backup catcher Cam Gallagher (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday, so Melendez is slated to take on backup catching duties behind Salvador Perez for now. Melendez is currently ranked as the No. 49 overall prospect in the majors by MLB Pipeline. The 23-year-old has yet to appear in the majors, so his MLB debut should come sometime in the next few days. He had a fantastic spring with the Royals, posting a 1.121 OPS over 19 plate appearances. However, he's been struggling at the plate at Triple-A this year with a .167/.286/.295 slash line, two home runs and four doubles over 21 games.

The Kansas City Royals made a number of moves to cut down the team's roster on Monday. Most notably, the team optioned catcher MJ Melendez and infielder Nick Pratto to Triple-A. Melendez is ranked as the team's No. 2 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline while Pratto is ranked right behind him at No. 3. Both players have a good shot at making their MLB debuts this year, but we now know they won't be part of the Opening Day roster. One potentially significant development from these roster moves is that the league's No. 1 overall prospect Bobby Witt Jr. remains with the big league club. There will certainly be more moves to follow, but it's a good sign for Witt that he's made it past this round of cuts.